North Tyneside's £100 million 'green' homes strategy hailed as a UK first » Housing » 24dash.com

A drive to use green technology in all of North Tyneside's sheltered housing has been hailed as the first large-scale public sector project to promote renewable energy.

About £100 million will go towards the 'Older People, Homes for the Future' scheme, which will be the largest capital investment in the council's history.

The scheme will be delivered by the council in partnership with Northumbria University.

The council has been able to transform its sheltered housing after it successfully bid for around £100 million in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits from Communities and Local Government (CLG).

Now Northumbria University graduate Alex Hope is working with the council to assess the renewable energy potential of the sites and advise on the most appropriate technology.

These could include solar power, biomass (biological materials) and geothermal (energy from the ground) sources.

It is believed to be the first time that the use of renewable energy is being explored across the whole of a public sector housing initiative.

Known as an Associate, Alex's position is part-funded by a government grant through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), which helps support the cost of employment, equipment, training and travel associated with the initiatives.

A further Associate, who is still to be appointed, will work on evaluating design proposals in terms of aesthetics, spatial layout and building construction to ensure the very best sustainable homes for the future.

They will liaise with contractors interested in tendering for the work to drive up standards and ensure the latest technologies and best practices are incorporated in the proposals.

Bill Frain, Knowledge Transfer Manager at Northumbria University, said: "By informing the bids in this way the partnership will be able to generate higher quality sheltered housing, providing older people in North Tyneside with sustainable, healthy environments in which to live."

Alex, who lives in North Tyneside, graduated with a BSC in Environmental Management. His dissertation explored ways renewable energy could be used to heat and power residential care homes.

He said: "We don't believe there has been anything that's been done on this scale in the public sector before.

"I'm an environmentalist, I live in North Tyneside myself, and believe what I'm doing can benefit the whole community, not just older people.

"Research elsewhere has shown how the use of renewable energy sources within the built environment can make the community at large feel greater pride in where they live.

"My dissertation was almost like a pre-study to what I will be doing. I will be considering every renewable energy source and what would be applicable.

"Over the next couple of years there will be lot of changes as new cutting edge technology starts to break through, so it is set to be a really innovative project."

North Tyneside's elected mayor John Harrison said: "This partnership with Northumbria University is really exciting.

"It will help to ensure we get the best possible developments and best value for money.

"Our tenants told us they wanted us to continue to retain responsibility for housing, we listened to them and are delighted that we will be improving homes on their behalf."

'Older People, Homes for the Future' will see the replacement of current outdated, poor quality homes.

Of the 32 schemes, 12 will be new builds plus one cluster of bungalows, 12 will be refurbished, and seven schemes will be released.

The procurement process to secure a partner to deliver the project has begun. Work is expected to start in 2010 and is currently estimated to finish in 2016.